Dairy Issues/Breast Cancer

[Paleowoman]

Any of you gals out there avoiding dairy products (all, butter, cheese, milk cream whether full or low-fat) because of concerns that they may promote breast cancer? I ask because I read a fascinating book by Jane Plant PHD who claims to have cured her aggressive metastatic breast cancer by cutting all dairy -- she does not advocate low-fat or vegetarian -- she feels dairy is the major promoter of breast and prostate cancer. Thoughts?:confused:

[Gaelen]

Paleowoman, from the excerpts of the book I've found, that this is one woman, one collection of anecdotal experience. As a cancer patient, I can confirm the I'll try anything mentality, and the desperate market for books like this...but do I consider them necessarily reputable sources or valid theories? Um...no. I consider them YMMV reports of things that worked for someone, somewhere, but may or may not work for you. For colon cancer, there is actually anecdotal published information that coffee enemas have 'cured' people. Well, fine for them, but I prefer to drink my coffee, not purge it--thank you very much. ;)

As for me, I have eaten full fat dairy products for most of my life. I had a brief interlude with skim milk during a weight watchers period, but no more. The vitamin D in milk isn't metabolically available when there's no fat to help the body digest the vitamin. ;)

Again...actual mileage may vary.

[Lauri S]

I rarely touch milk (I think I've had 8 ounces in the past 60 days) and eat some cheese but not much. And I was just dx'd with breast cancer.

[Gaelen]

And from the research end...Dr. Walter Willett, who does have a considerable track record in researching relationships between diet and disease, is studying the effects of dairy products and incidence of breast cancer (http://www.bcrfcure.org/rese_meet_willett.html). Based on Willett's research track record, and his willingness to release findings that buck popular or prevailing opinion, that will be a study I'd like to watch. His theory is that adolescent dairy consumption may be able to be correlated with breast cancer incidence in pre-menopausal women...and that it may have something to do with the hormones given to the dairy cows and present in the milk/dairy consumed. Possibly it will present another case for milk from hormone-free dairy stock...or repudiate that. With Willett, I find that his results are the results, and he doesn't pretty them up for publication. If his research supports his theory, good. If it doesn't, he still reports that and he doesn't equivocate.